Monday, July 03, 2006

Pho

It's a pretty incredible substance.

We were wandering a bit in Seattle, which may be a teensy bit more asian influenced than Ohio. You know, Pacific ocean and all that. And Bob said, 'Pho! You love pho!' Pho, if you didn't know, is the national dish of Vietnam. I guess you could say that it's noodle soup. But comparing pho to, say, Campbell's soup, is a little like comparing artisinal cheese to Velveeta. So we stopped in this little dive of a place near Pioneer Square and had pho.

It came in a giant bowl, despite the fact I had ordered a small, and with it came a plate of bean sprouts, basil leaves and chilies and a wedge of lime. The bowl itself was full of beef broth and noodles and onions into which had been added meatballs and shaved slices of raw beef. The beef was sliced so thin that it had already nearly completely cooked in the hot broth. I added the bean sprouts--crisp, fat white bean sprouts that were utterly unlike the anemic floppy things so common where I live--and some basil leaves and squeezed lime juice over it.

Oh, the scent. Beefy, but light with lime and cilantro and basil.

I love Seattle.

7 Comments:

Blogger Madeleine Robins said...

God, I want some now. Right this minute. It sounds fabulous.

July 03, 2006 11:52 PM  
Blogger Darby M. Dixon III said...

Ditto!

July 04, 2006 1:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maureen,
I need to find out about your plans for Context as they want we to make MY plans. Are you still attending? I know you'll be moving to Texas around then....so I assume our plans to stay at your place are out :-)
Where/when can I call you to confirm stuff?
Ellen

July 04, 2006 11:28 AM  
Blogger Maureen McHugh said...

Ellen, I'll still be attending Context, but oh God, I had forgotten about shopping. I hope tohave sold the house by then. I'm planning on flying in to Cleveland to check on my mom, and then hitching a ride down to Columbus for Cleveland.

I have a new computer and I'm in Seattle. Can you email me your number so I can call you? (Emailing out is still a pain because of weird computer stuff.)

July 04, 2006 11:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've emailed you my phone number (but have been on the phone with Eileen Gunn for the past 45 minutes). She gave me your phone # too, so we'll connect in the next day or so.
Ellen

July 04, 2006 6:24 PM  
Blogger Samantha Ling said...

Ever since I moved to Orlando, FL from California, I haven't been able to find a lot of the foods that I used to love (one of which is Pho!). My friends drove me to their chinatown, which was all of 2 blocks. But I did find a very good Philipino place here! Thank goodness for that, at least. I hope you enjoyed your soup!

July 12, 2006 12:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Maureen,

I can tell you at least two good places to get really good Pho in Cleveland [G].

Number 1 Pho and Pho Hoa, both near 30th and Superior. Number 1 is more upscale with a nice ambiance, but Pho Hoa is a really good little hole in the wall down the hall from a bakery in case you want to take something home.

I can't remember how to log in, so...Cindy in Cleveland.

July 12, 2006 10:01 PM  

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